Work begins on Kien Luong power plant

Kien Luong Thermal Power Centre, owned by Tan Tao Group (ITACO), is the largest thermal power project authorised by the Prime Minister to a privately-owned company. Work is set to get under way on the Kien Luong Thermal Power Plant No 1 Viet Nam News reporter Thu Ngan talks with ITACO’s chairwoman Dang Thi Hoang Yen about the plant. Can you please tell us something about Kien Luong Thermal Power Plant No 1’s current status? Kien Luong Thermal Power Plant No 1 is a part of the Kien Luong Thermal Power Centre and Nam Du deep-sea port complex in the southern province of Kien Giang, about 280km from HCM City. Work will commence on the plant in the first quarter of this year and it will have a finished capacity of 1,200 MW. The plant will be run with an electrostatic air cleaning system to ensure there is no environmental damage. To date, all the land has been cleared away and we have already started to construct re-habitation areas including homes for experts and a living area for about 3,000 workers. It is estimated that the plant will become operational in 2013. How will you raise the capital for the project? The total capital needed for Kien Luong Plant No 1 is about VND45.79 trillion (US$2.5 billion). Tan Tao Group is the main investor in the project. We will contribute 20 per cent of the total capital for the project and the remainder will be mobilised from other sources. So,…